31 Days of Halloween (2016)
by The Black Sun's Daughter
Summary: It's that time of year again! A drabble a day keeps the bogeyman away!
1. Blood Harvest

Burton had given her a cellar to keep her little pet in, all to herself, a soundproof cellar beneath one of the many warehouses he owned.

April enjoyed tormenting him.

It was great fun, to withhold until he was nearly mad from hunger, snarling and yanking at his chains.

Then she would bring in some young innocent, a civilian she'd pulled off the street; he'd be so overcome that he couldn't keep himself from tearing them half to pieces in hunger, only to torment himself later.

How great it was to bring Captain Ryan to his knees.


	2. Dragonfire

They had been hunted into near extinction.

Knights and mercenaries, killers and soldiers of all sizes and shapes.

All looking to add the boast of 'dragonslayer' to their names.

Those that remained scattered far and wide, to the four corners.

Living underground, snatching transients off the street.

Connor melted his treasure, reshaped it into jewelry for his Abby.

He had his own house, not a pit in the sewers.

But someone had killed Azhdeha, his cousin.

They were being targeted once more.

Connor was going to find them.

And he was going to have their retribution in fire and blood.


	3. The Sorcerer's Apprentice

Lessons were exhausting.

Every session lasted for hours, and Gideon was not a very forgiving teacher.

But her control was growing.

She was learning to manage the incredible power that'd plagued her since puberty, harness it at will.

He taught her everything she knew, which was more than she could ever imagine knowing as a child.

And her lessons had only just started, according to Gideon.

She was still a novice, and he was one of the elders of the Sorcerers' Guild, the highest of their number.

Jess Parker was a prodigy, in tech _and_ magic.

Take that, Connor.


	4. Shadowmind

She had long decided she was mad.

She heard the voice for months.

Christine had decided not to do anything about it.

He gave her advice.

Said being dead made him a better judge of character than most.

Sometimes she could see him.

His image would flicker between a handsome man and a gruesome, ripped figure soaked in blood.

So when she read reports from the ARC, she saw the name Helen over and over.

"Don't ever trust her. Ever."

"Why not?" she asked her personal ghost.

"Because I'm the result," he answered, blood oozing down his chin.


	5. Dominion

He knew her for what she was the moment he saw her.

"Get out of here. Now," he hissed quietly, feeling his back prickle with the need to unfurl his wings.

Helen's pupils gleamed red as she laughed, "Or what? Are you going to smite me, Feathers?"

"These people are _mine,_ Asmodeus. I mean it. Begone from this place and back to the burning place that spawned you," Ryan warned.

With a sharp _crack_ and the stink of sulphur, she vanished; she'd be back, though.

He wondered if the professor knew he'd married a demoness. Probably not.


	6. King of Terror

Jenny had come to visit in the sake of old times after her tumultuous wedding.

She hadn't realised how bad things had gotten in the ARC.

Of course, Abby had told her that things had been a little rough.

She never thought it'd be _this_ rough though.

She made her decision then.

Philip Burton was going to have to go.

It'd take some explaining, but Michael would understand.

Philip Burton's reign had poisoned the ARC.

She was going to remove the source, cut the head off the snake.

The King is dead.

Long live the Queen.


	7. Toy Soldiers

"I see you've got new pieces," Chaos mused. "So have I."

"When will you give up this game?" Order sighed.

"When one of us wins. I don't know why you care so much. It is only one world, and a pathetic one at that."

"A world upon which we have both lived mortal lives. One _you_ ended."

Chaos sniggered. "I did. But I was paid back in kind. Damn gravity."

"Why must you interfere with time?" Order asked wearily.

"Because it is _your_ creation. I love tangling it. My job."

"Then begin. Knight to E5."

"Bishop to B4."


	8. Invisible Enemy

It was happening with greater frequency, these peculiar disturbances.

Electronics shorting out of nowhere, spots of frigidly cold air even though the AC wasn't on, items being moved without his recollection. Sometimes he was almost certain of being watched, even if he was sitting in his office alone. Often the sensation followed him home, and he would be so unnerved it was impossible to sleep. The next morning he'd rise to find his clothes in the wrong drawers or the telly on full volume.

If he didn't know better, he would say that he was being haunted.


	9. Crow

"You know what they call a large group of crows, right?"

Stephen knew but didn't say.

"A murder. A murder of crows. Oddly fitting, innit?"

Connor's voice was quiet, subdued as they walked along the empty motorway, meagre supplies hastily stuffed in knapsacks on their shoulders. Stephen kept his rifle in hand just in case, though they hadn't seen another living soul for three days. Their footsteps sounded surreally loud, every crunch of glass underfoot startling.

He glanced back. Behind them, the dead city loomed against the sky, with only the dark, wheeling shapes of crows overhead.


	10. Alpha

Despite the fact they were supposed to work together at the ARC, James Lester and Philip Burton were rarely ever together in the same room.

James avoided being alone with Philip almost religiously, and vice versa. If they were alone, without any witnesses to remind them to keep their heads, then instinct might get the better of them both. Especially the week of the full moon. Then they were hardly ever on the same _floor._

And for a very good reason.

There was only room for one alpha male in any wolf pack.

This was especially true of male werewolves.


	11. The Witch's Familiar

"Magic. Really." The young man's voice practically oozed scepticism.

"That's right," Christine murmured back, tracing a finger around the edge of her wineglass. She could see potential in this young soldier, out with his mates after being promoted captain. "You'd be amazed some of the things I could show you."

"Try me," he challenged.

She smiled and placed one finger against the base of the wineglass. Slowly, the pale gold champagne turned the dark red of wine, then froze solid.

His eyes widened. "Sign me up."

"Captain Becker, I think we'll get along splendidly," she purred.


	12. Bewitched

He couldn't move, held to his chair by magic.

Powerful magic, nothing he could contest with.

"I've heard of you, Gideon Anderson. Trying to take over my ARC, aren't you? First Matt, then Jess…."

He tried to move, then retched as she tightened the enchantment around him.

He gagged, tasting blood.

"You stay away from the ARC and all those that work there. Your little tyro included. You're done. Or next time, I won't be so gentle."

"How did you…?" he gurgled.

Jenny smirked. "You might be a sorcerer, Gideon, but I'm a witch."


	13. Iron

The fact people didn't believe in the Fae any longer was almost amusing. Almost.

Emily had seen too much of the 'mischief' they wrought to find them amusing, though.

The first time she mentioned the Fae to Matt, he'd looked at her like she was mad.

She didn't mention it again.

But Connor knew, which was actually quite unsurprising.

He washed floors with yarrow water and blessed windows with saltwater.

He gave her an old iron coin, inscribed with foreign letters.

"Fae hate iron. It burns upon their skin like fire."

She kept it with her always.


	14. Grief

People thought that he was strange because he didn't grieve.

They thought it meant he didn't care, that he was somehow callus enough to be unaffected.

It wasn't true. Not at all. He hurt, and he cried, but just not for long.

He knew that death wasn't a goodbye. Just a moving on, from the Here-and-Now to the Hereafter.

But nobody was ever really _gone._

Stephen, Ryan, Cutter, even Tom. Nobody ever really left.

People thought he was strange because he didn't grieve.

Connor Temple _did_ grieve. But he also could see ghosts.


	15. Tunnel

"What do you suppose made _this?"_ Jenny asked, looking down the seemingly endless hole.

"A really, _really_ big rabbit?" Connor offered.

She rolled her eyes and replied sarcastically, "Sure, and it leads to Wonderland, and we can all go for tea with March Hare and the Mad Hatter."

To her shock, Connor straightened up and held out a hand. "Let's find out, shall we?"

Jenny opened her mouth to protest, then closed it when she saw a white rabbit wearing a waistcoat standing beside the hole.

"And just so you know, I'm not _that_ mad, either," Connor added.


	16. Aconitum Napellus

For as long as he could remember, Stephen James Hart walked on a wire.

When he was younger, it was always making sure that his temper never got the better of him when he scrapped with other boys.

As he got older and started taking his medicine, he had to be careful with doses.

Too much was fatal. Too little was lethal.

Connor helped sometimes, able to distill it to a purer mixture.

Monkshood was toxic to humans. In large doses, death could be almost instantaneous.

It was also the only thing that kept him from transforming every full moon.


	17. Uncommon

Witches were a matriarchal society. That was why the very word 'witch' conjured an image of a woman, not a man.

Girls had a higher chance of inheriting the magic.

Not to say male witches didn't exist, they were just uncommon. They tended not to have as great a capacity as girls did.

He was like that, but it didn't bother him. Suited him fine, actually.

He couldn't cast a full-blown enchantment, but he could unweave hexes like nobody's business.

Jenny wasn't the only witch around. Not that Nick would ever tell _her_ that.


	18. Charmed

Heartsease for loving thoughts.

Rose petals for romance.

Chamomile for action and energy.

Parsley for spirit.

Sage for domesticity.

A heart-shaped rose quartz for affection.

A lump of raw amber for charm.

Lodestone for magnetism.

Chips of garnet for fire.

Plantain to bind it together.

Jess held the bag of ingredients in one hand, smiling to herself all the while.

She would take a bath and have the charm soak in the water with her like a tea bag, burning red candles for love. When she got out, she'd be irresistible.

Let's see Becker ignore her _now._


	19. Nightwalker

Nobody liked that Connor walked everywhere. He got vertigo in cars, according to him.

Cutter warned him that one day he'd get hurt, walking around at night.

Stephen never said anything, though he was Connor's boyfriend and ought to be most concerned.

So as Connor pulled on his jacket, Cutter warned, "Careful out there, Temple. The freaks come out at night, 'specially this time of year."

Connor gave Stephen a smile, showing just a flash of sharp teeth and a shimmer of gold in his eyes. "Don't I know it."

Yeah, Stephen wasn't worried about him.


	20. Fact or Fantasy

"Cutter," Stephen rasped out softly. "Nick. Are you seeing what I'm seeing?"

"Aye. I believe I am," the professor gasped.

Standing between the camp and the anomaly was a magnificent white horse with mane and tail like spun silver. Protruding from the centre of the horse's forehead was a crystalline horn, a tapered spire of clear diamond laced through with silver and opal. The unicorn looked at them with dark eyes, pawed the soft grass, then turned and vanished into the anomaly.

From across the fire, Connor muttered, "You'd think you've never seen a unicorn before."


	21. X

Bloody pixies were a menace. They'd swarmed the camp, and Connor was working to scare them off.

"Away, airy abominable apparitions! Be gone, baleful blustering beasts! Cease careening, colourful creatures!" It was like magic. The pixies began shrieking and hissing, whirling about in agitation. Connor raised his voice to be heard. " Disappear, dodging, ducking demons! Escape, elusive evil elves! Flee, flitting frumious fairies!"

They scattered, and Becker shook his head. "Sharp trick, Temple."

"Sometimes I have to go right on through the alphabet before they go away. The stupid little things never notice if you leave out X, though."


	22. DNA

Ditzy scratched his head in bafflement, looking down at the results of the blood tests.

He was ordered to run a test on the team after they'd been stranded on the wrong side of the anomaly, to ensure they weren't carrying any prehistoric pathogens back with them.

"What's the matter?" Palmer asked as she tied her braided hair back with an elastic.

"I think we've got a cross-contamination error in the blood lab," he remarked.

"Why's that?" The labs were rarely wrong.

"Because Hart's results are showing some markers shared with canine DNA."


	23. Hex

Jenny startled when Cutter strode up and dropped a small object on her desk.

It was a cloth pouch, tied with horsehair twine, all its magic taken out of it; someone had unwoven the enchantment.

She swallowed hard and looked up at the professor. He seemed quite sure of its purpose.

"Next time, Jenny, try properly covering your tracks. Unweaving the hex was child's play," he suggested blandly.

She gaped in surprise. Cutter, a practitioner?

He walked to the door, then turned and added, "And just so you know, even if it shrank, it'd still be above par."


	24. Comeuppance

Nick could smell the foreign cologne in Helen's clothes.

Contrary to popular belief, he wasn't an idiot. He knew.

She said that it was from being around her male grad students, but there was no reason for that smell to be on her best evening dress.

He gave a brief thought to the box under the floorboards.

He could unweave hexes; surely, he could find a way to weave one that would cause any man's worst nightmare.

After a moment, he decided against it.

Poor bastard would get his soon enough, when Helen got tired of him.


	25. Secret Ingredient

Stephen was deathly afraid of spiders.

Nick found it funny, that such a big, tough bloke like him could be scared of something so small.

"I don't trust anything with that many eyes _and_ legs," the tracker muttered.

The incident in the Underground only concreted that phobia.

Which was why that Nick decided a long time ago to never show Stephen his pet tarantula or tell him that a key ingredient in many spells was live spiders.

Stephen would never ask for Nick's homemade hangover cure again if he ever found out that it contained powdered spider legs.


	26. Full Set

Nobody knew about him, but he knew about everybody.

Dragons were top-shelf at sensing other supernatural beings.

They were also top-shelf at disguising themselves.

Connor knew that the ARC's staff was roughly 80% Fae and humans were a minority.

Jenny and Cutter, witches. Stephen, Ryan, a handful of solders, all werewolves. Abby, air sprite. Lorraine, skinwalker. Lester, necromancer.

Connor giggled a little, surveying his team, each thinking they had a secret to keep and he didn't.

Nobody knew about him, and he knew about everybody.

"Witches and werewolves and dragons, oh my!" he chortled to himself.


	27. Penance

Ryan believed that he'd been cursed since it happened.

It was some kind of divine punishment for the lives he'd taken as a soldier, the evil he'd done for the sake of Queen and country.

He still remembered the hulking shape in the desert night, too big to be a dog, too sleek to be a bear.

Until one night, at the end of shift, he found a note tucked in his locker.

 _A man who is pure of heart and says his prayers by night may still become a wolf when the autumn moon is bright._


	28. Pack

"What do you mean, _Temple knows?"_ Stringer hissed under his breath.

"Exactly what I said," Ryan snapped back, feeling the beast roll beneath his skin.

The other soldier growled angrily, not liking that their pack might well be in trouble because of one big-mouthed geek.

"Relax, Joel, I'll not be telling your secrets," said Connor, standing off to the side where _he had not been two seconds ago._

Stringer nearly leapt out of his skin. The hell was he, a geek ninja? "You won't?"

"No. But any of you come home with fleas, all bets are off."


	29. Living Will

Lester looked through the glass walls of his office, into the atrium below.

Cutter and his island of misfit toys.

Enough to give even the staunchest civil servant indigestion all on his own, enough to knock down Parliament taken altogether.

There were days, more often than not, that he very devoutly wished that he were not a necromancer.

Being able to communicate with ghosts and see departed souls was a gift, true.

He just wished that he knew of a spell that could control his underlings just as easily as bones.

Living people were always more difficult than dead ones.


	30. Payback

Helen thought back to when she had Nick and Stephen both available to her bed.

One she had twisted around her little finger. The other she had panting after her.

Now they were both lost.

She knew it was her own doing, revealing the affair like that. The look on Nick's face was worth it.

But she never thought that Stephen would spurn her.

Until she came back to his flat, found him in bed with Nick's little sycophant, Conrad or whatever it was.

Rolling her wand between two fingers, Helen swore she'd make him regret it.


	31. Taking A Day

Halloween was the one night out of the year that all manner of supernatural beasties took a day.

Seriously.

Nobody worked mojo on Halloween because nobody wanted to be _that_ much of a cliché.

Which was how it came to be that three werewolves, an air sprite, a dragon, a skinwalker, and two witches sat watching the annual marathon of classic scary films together peacefully.

Nick's arm settled around Jenny's shoulders. Connor had his feet in Stephen's lap. Abby sat on Ryan's knee. Lorraine was tucked into Blade's side.

Even anomalies took a day, apparently.


End file.
